Soundstreams 2025/26 season options the same old eclectic mixture of progressive and compelling music that Toronto audiences have come to anticipate of the group for greater than 4 many years.
The performer lineup consists of ensembles and artists like Quatuor Bozzini, Steven Dann, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and Carla Huhtanen, together with among the metropolis’s most in-demand musicians and singers in Ensemble Soundstreams and Soundstreams Choir 21.
The checklist of composers consists of Canadian and worldwide luminaries: Benjamin Britten, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, R. Murray Schafer, and Claude Vivier, together with Subsequent Era Composers Andrew Balfour, Cassandra Miller, Zosha Di Castri, Nicole Lizée, Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and Ana Sokolović.
LvT spoke to Creative Director Lawrence Cherney, who based Soundstreams again in 1982, about this yr’s lineup.
Soundstreams 2025/26 at a Look
Mass For The Endangered (November 22, 2025)
That includes David Fallis, Conductor, Soundstreams Choir 21, and Ensemble Soundstreams
Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered has been a lot lauded each for its music and its compelling examination of humanity’s impression on the pure world.
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir: Arvo Pärt At 90 (February 14, 2026)
Tõnu Kaljuste, Creative Director
The world-renowned Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, with founder and conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, make a return to Toronto to have a good time Arvo Pärt’s ninetieth birthday. Together with Pärt’s most celebrated works, the live performance consists of music by Philip Glass, Luciano Berio, and others, and the world premiere of a brand new Soundstreams fee by Estonian-Canadian composer Riho Esko Maimets.
With Strings Hooked up: Quatuor Bozzini In Three Premieres (March 21, 2026)
That includes Quatuor Bozzini: Clemens Merkel, violin; Alissa Cheung, violin; Stéphanie Bozzini, viola; and Isabelle Bozzini, cello
This system options three world premieres co-commissioned with New York’s Time:Spans Pageant and Montreal’s Le Vivier by Canadian composers Taylor Brook, Zosha Di Castri, and Cassandra
Miller. Additionally on this system: the world premieres of six quick new works by contributors within the Soundstreams Bridges Rising Composers Program, developed below the mentorship of Zosha Di Castri and Cassandra Miller.
Love Songs (April 9. 2026)
With David Fallis, Music Director; Carla Huhtanen, soprano; Gregory Oh, piano; and Noam Bierstone, percussion
Claude Vivier’s Love Songs and Shiraz kinds the center of this program for seven singers, piano and percussion that explores love, id, connection, and censorship.
In Terra Pax (Might 9, 2026)
That includes Anna Pidgorna, vocals; Steven Dann, viola; Anna Sagalova, piano; and Ensemble Soundstreams
In Terra Pax (On Earth, Peace) is a program curated by Anna Pidgorna — winner of the New Voices Curator Mentorship Program — that displays on conflict and its destruction, and the resilience to go on. Pidgorna performs as composer and vocalist, with displaced Ukrainian pianist Anna Sagalova (now based mostly in Vancouver), and violist Steven Dann.
Creative Director Lawrence Cherney: The Interview
Two bigger themes resonate all through the forty third season: chatting with social points, and inspecting human and non secular relationships.
“There’ll all the time be overarching themes in a given season,” Cherney says. “Subsequent yr, there’s quite a bit that’s linked to social justice.” Notably, that features the season’s opening live performance that includes Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered. “It’s a live performance that’s reflecting on what we’re doing to the environment.” It’s not essentially an apocalyptic view. “We don’t all the time have a chance in music to replicate on larger issues.”
A lot later within the season comes In Terra Pax. “It’s about conflict and peace, and resilience.”
Whereas the themes revolve across the present scenario in Ukraine, it’s a way more widespread theme. “There’s lots of people on the planet who’re dying who shouldn’t be dying.”
It’s not about preaching, although, it’s extra about reflection. “We’re not setting ourselves as much as train anyone something,” he says. The information is already stuffed with headlines about battle from so many locations on the planet. “We’re not instructing folks issues, however we hope we are able to forged gentle on one thing on issues which have develop into a bit obscured,” he provides.
“What the humanities can do, is we may also help audiences and ourselves to replicate on issues. Artwork for artwork’s sake is great however this season has connections to different points,” he says.
“The opposite theme isn’t actually love, nevertheless it’s about human relationships, non secular relationships.”
Marking a significant milestone is integrated into that blend.
“We’ve had a really particular relationship with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir,” Cherney says. It is going to be the eighth time they’ve appeared on a Soundstreams program. Their most up-to-date Toronto live performance, in 2024, was offered out.
Alongside along with his milestone birthday celebration, Arvo Pärt’s work has a non secular dimension. “Regardless of your perception system, one way or the other Arvo Pärt touches us.”
The Love Songs repertoire is much less about spirit, and extra about humanity. “This one is extra all the way down to earth, about relationships amongst us.”
Claude Vivier’s Love Songs and Shiraz is the center of this system. “It’s humorous, nevertheless it’s additionally a profound have a look at what love means.”
Different items embrace works by Ana Sokolovic and Nicole Lizée. “Her piece on this system is sort of a distinction,” he says of the latter. “It’s referred to as the filthy 15.” It refers to a listing of songs that had been steered for banning in the US, and consists of quotes from Frank Zappa opining on censorship, amongst different issues.
“Once more, it’s, like a lot of Nicole’s work, one thing of a parody.”
Canadian Composers
The work of Canadian composers is peppered all year long’s program of 5 concert events.
“That’s what we’re on the earth to do, is to foster Canadian music,” says Cherney.
It’s not solely about together with Canadian works, it’s about placing them into a world context.
“I believe we do the perfect for Canadian creators once we put them on a world stage,” he says. “We put them along with the world’s finest,” he provides. “We’ll program a really well-known worldwide composer, however typically we’ll fee a brand new work that might be carried out on that very same program.”
He factors out that the live performance with Estonian Philharmonic Choir features a newly commissioned work by Estonian-Canadian composer Riho Esko Maimets.
“It’s an ideal alternative, nevertheless it’s additionally an ideal problem,” Cherney says. “Beneath all of it, we’re saying we now have expertise on this nation that is the same as expertise that’s on the market on the planet. The Soundstreams stage is in a way reflecting the world,” he provides.
New Music
Introducing audiences to new music of any style is a problem.
“We even have a chance to provide context for brand new music,” Lawrence explains “There’s great new music being written in every single place.” Many new composers, he factors out, are recognized of their space, however not exterior, and never abroad.
“Our platform is an oportunity.”
The artwork of programming lies in providing themes that assist audiences make sense of the music and its message.
“We attempt to give a context.”
He mentions Benjamin Britten’s iconic Lachrymae, a part of this system for In Terra Pax. “The theme is bang on for the context,” he says. The piece for viola and string orchestra makes use of the solo instrument’s tonal vary utilizing a wide range of methods, with colors that lean in direction of Jap European music. It makes the right accompanying piece to the live performance’s predominant work, a fee by Pidgorna for voice, piano and string orchestra that’s influenced by the Ukrainian custom of feminine lamentation singing.
“It’s a chance for us to assist folks to discover a approach in,” he says. Generally, a bit doesn’t join just because it’s not the correct surroundings for it. “It’s all the time straightforward in charge audiences,” he says.
“We as live performance producers have an ideal duty to suppose arduous about creating an expertise for the viewers to understand each work on a program.” Connecting works by way of themes and concepts provides to the expertise from an viewers perspective. “An exquisite efficiency could have so many ranges of which means.”
Correctly accomplished, the viewers ought to merely get pleasure from a seamless, straightforward type of circulation of sounds and concepts. Later, they could surprise about the way it was all put collectively.
Quatuor Bozzini: Canadians within the Highlight
The live performance that includes Quatuor Bozzini consists of works co-commissioned by three artists Cherney calls “three stars of Canadian music” — London-based Cassandra Miller, Zosha Di Castri (a full professor at Columbia in addition to a performer), and Victoria-based Taylor Brook.
“No certainly one of them seems like the opposite. There’s actual distinction in aesthetic and elegance.”
Miller and Di Castri have earlier written music for the Bozzinis. “The quartet is sort of adventurous,” Cherney says. “This explicit live performance is attention-grabbing for 2 causes: the music may be very worthwhile. We expect these are three of the actual rising stars of Canadian composers,” he says. “This explicit live performance consists of these three works and in addition six quick works by the RBC Bridges Rising Composer program.”
Cassandra and Zosha might be mentoring the six rising composers, three Canadian and three worldwide, through the week main as much as the live performance.
“They present up with quick, 5 minute works,” he says of the method. Through the week, the six youthful composers obtain mentoring, get assist with potential revisions, and extra.
“It’s fairly attention-grabbing. It’s additionally actually essential to Soundstreams.”
- Discover extra data, tickets and subscriptions to the Soundstreams 2025/26 season [HERE].
Are you trying to promote an occasion? Have a information tip? Have to know the perfect occasions taking place this weekend? Ship us a notice.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the day by day arts information straight to your inbox.
Join the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — native classical music and opera information straight to your inbox HERE.
Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 many years, and a artistic writing teacher for Ontariolearn.
